


Rising on Bloodied Wing

by VagabondDiesel



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adrenaline, Dragon Riders, Gen, Wyvern Rider, Wyvern Rider AU, dragon rider au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-12 17:55:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4489164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VagabondDiesel/pseuds/VagabondDiesel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Years of training and practice were not enough to cajole Levi into lowering his guard as he approached his mount. Some riders became dangerously familiar with the wyverns, allowing years of proximity to override caution. </i>
</p>
<p>
<i>It was true that the beasts were intelligent, cunningly so, and it was true that they were capable of emotion and formed bonds with their paired riders, but at the rise of every day, it could not be forgotten that these were creatures that could hold a draft horse in their mouth and gaze into a third, if not fourth story window with ease. Their flights of fancy were dangerous, their temperaments were volatile, and Levi had seen enough riders torn to shreds and shaken off from great heights because they had miscalculated the regard that the ones they flew with had for their personal safety.</i><br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. challenge

**Author's Note:**

> So, if I pull this off the way I want to, this isn't going to be your run-of-the mill dragonrider story.
> 
> [Some appropriately awesome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wUM9q1ZRws)[ _sountrack music._](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFQpCGztcH4) (that means there's two songs, for now.)

        Eight hundred pounds of flesh and sinew shifted at his approach. The gigantic beast before him rose, balancing its weight between legs as strong as cedars and the knuckles of wings that would spread wider than the sails of even the greatest trading ships when extended fully. A scale-clad tail uncoiled with the action, the movement reminiscent of the undulating of a serpent as its giant length was lifted effortlessly off the ground, the guiding rows of spine and membrane along its length twitching as they flared and folded within themselves.  
        The leviathan raised its head proudly, challenging, meeting its rider’s gaze with burning irises the mirror image of the moon eclipsing a bloodied sun. Scaled lips parted over rows of serrated teeth, the bluntness of wear on their faces doing little to ease the savagery of the sight. Behind, a broad, wedge-shaped tongue pressed forward as nostrils flared in turn, scenting out the small one who dared to approach. 

        Years of training and practice were not enough to cajole Levi into lowering his guard as he approached his mount. Some riders became dangerously familiar with the wyverns, allowing years of proximity to override caution.  
        It was true that the beasts were intelligent, cunningly so, and it was true that they were capable of emotion and formed bonds with their paired riders, but at the rise of every day, it could not be forgotten that these were creatures that could hold a draft horse in their mouth and gaze into a third, if not fourth story window with ease. Their flights of fancy were dangerous, their temperaments were volatile, and Levi had seen enough riders torn to shreds and shaken off from great heights because they had miscalculated the patience and the regard the ones they flew with. 

        Levi stood perfectly still as the great wyvern approached him. This was a moment that could be unnerving to even the most veteran riders within their ranks, for in reality, should the wyvern choose to take offense, there was nothing that could be done before it was too late. By the time anybody could react, his body could be separated in two by those massive jaws and the rest of it flung a quarter of a mile away with the twist of a powerful neck.  
        Even as those thoughts occurred to him, he did not flinch as his mount approached, the ground beneath him trembling with its footfalls. By now, it should have been able to recognize him, yet insisted on scenting him from close range, lowering its wide head almost all the way to the ground to do so.  
        At this point, the behavior had become a ritual, and Levi endured it only as one who entertained the fancies of a creature that could fit him inside of one nostril could do so.  
        The wyvern came a hair too close with its inspection, toppling its rider to the ground with the effort of an ox overturning a stray stone in the roadway. This was also a ritual.  
        At this point, one would have to be a fool to assume that it was unintentional. To Levi, it was an unspoken reminder that while he held the reins, his input was only a suggestion – that in the end, it was the wyvern, not the man, that called the shots, and if Levi disagreed with them, he could be removed from his position on the saddle with immediacy. 

        He got to his feet, doing his best to brush the sand and dirt from his apparel and the riding gear that was now scattered around him. He had tried setting it to one side beforehand in anticipation, but the damn thing would either refuse to let him approach, or, if it was feeling particularly malevolent, would let him make the climb up its shoulder before standing up to dislodge him as soon as it felt the weight of the shoulder over its spine.  
        Levi would rather be knocked to the ground while he was on the ground, rather than suffering another month on the sidelines as his dislocated shoulder and broken arm healed. 

        Satisfied, the wyvern began the awkward process of laying on the ground, digging its breastbone into the dirt and splaying its wings flat to balance, their membranes rippling as they were extended.  
        If it wasn’t already obvious, this wyvern was his. Their pairing had been a highly controversial one - a feral wyvern with no traceable linage matched with a the suspected leader of one of the most notorious underground criminal circles in Sina. Early on, Levi had begun to call the wyvern Nyx, after the river that separated the realms of the living and the dead in the old religion. His true name was unpronounceable, lost in the hissing and guttural rumblings of the species, but Levi knew that too.  
        Nyx was a distinctive mount – while the majority of his scales were patterned with gradated bars of black over grey, some areas looked as if they had been sanded off, revealing old pain beneath a newer finish – specifically, erratic, narrow bands of bronze intermixed with creams and browns. As he grew, it was doubted if we would even be capable of carrying a rider due to his stunted size and proportionally heavier weight. Yet, despite the obstacles, wyvern and rider had excelled in almost every area during their training and in the years after, even going as far as breaking records for speed and agility. Nyx would reach breeding age in roughly five years’ time, and he was already booked with prospective dams for seasons to come. 

        But that all became irrelevant as Levi approached, making the ungainly climb up to the shoulder with the riding tackle slung over his back. Most riders chose to use mounting platforms for this purpose, enlisting one of the junior riders to assist with strapping down, but Levi chose to bypass this in favor of the traditional method of scaling the side while using the outstretched wing for support.  
        The saddle did not sit across the shoulders or neck as one would imagine – such a position would spread the legs of the rider far beyond what was comfortable or practical. Rather, they took advantage of the spine, just before the point where the massive wings were anchored. Riders sat with their knees forward and bent at a steep angle, resting parallel with the thick neck muscles below the protruding ridge. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it gave the advantage of being able to grip properly with the thighs, contributing extra stability during tight turns and whippish aerial maneuvers.  
        A system of straps held the saddle in place, looping across the neck, breastbone, and behind the wing. More straps bound the riders legs to the saddle while two thick leather cords attached at points along the chest of the rider’s harness, reducing the risk of being thrown off, while not eliminating the chance entirely. And finally, the reins were clipped to bindings around the upper arm, allowing the rider to pull back on them without releasing their grip on the cords that ran along the sides of the front of the saddle.  
        The ends of these reins did not attach to any sort of bit or bridle – as is wyverns were like horses or mules to be pulled along by the lips. Rather, they hooked unto large rings pierced through the outward sides of each nostril – the only places sensitive enough to discern the comparatively feeble tugging of the rider. 

        Harnessing up traditionally took more time than usual, but Levi completed the process with efficiency borne of practice and an equal amount of caution, jumping back several feet when his wyvern shook his head after the reins were clipped into his nose-rings.  
        By the time he had finished, one of his wingmates was approaching, already mounted and prepared for flight. At the intrusion of the other wyvern, Nyx rose on his hind legs in a dominance display, making Levi sincerely grateful he had already strapped himself into the saddle as he was suddenly lifted close to thirty feet in the air.  
        The approaching wyvern, an overgrown beast with wide black splotches over copper and gold scales, bent low in submission despite the notable difference in size. Wyverns gauged dominance differently, deferring to aerial prowess rather than judging by might alone. Nyx had thoroughly thrashed this particular individual not long after Levi had joined the Corps, banking and diving to assail the copper wyvern’s gut and hindquarters without giving it a single opportunity to retaliate with its greater weight. 

        This wyvern had a name that was well known to Levi, as he had been flying with its rider since he had first strapped on gear. The wyvern was called Inertia – its rider, Hanji.  
        “Levi!” was shouted across the gap as Inertia advanced lazily, her body flexing with the awkward gait as the wyvern shuffled forward.  
        “You should know better than to approach so early,” Levi remarked irritably. “If I wasn’t strapped in, you would’ve had to scrape me off the ground and carry me back to the barracks in a stretcher.”  
        “What? Little Nyx would never do that to you. Right, Nyx?”  
        The darker wyvern rumbled in recognition of his name, dropping back to support his weight on his wings once again while craning his neck to scent Hanji. Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. Those riders that had gotten dropped or dismembered? Hanji was a likely candidate.  
        “Sure. That’s what Isabel used to say. Look what happened to her.”  
        “There were other factors at play, and you know it,” Hanji reprimanded. “And that’s a horrible attitude to have before a flight.”  
        “It’s an attitude that will keep you alive,” Levi countered, but his remark went ignored. Hanji was pulling back on both reins and Inertia was rearing, fanning her wings with concussive blasts as she crouched. Nyx screamed in indignation beneath him, and Levi’s gut dropped out as he fell a full story before catapulting forward, fighting to drop into proper flying position along the curve of his wyvern’s spine after catching hard on his chest straps. If it weren’t for those, it would be likely that he’d spend the entirety of the flight on his back watching the sky above him, unable to fight the wind resistance to raise himself into anything remotely resembling a sitting position.  
        The ground fell away rapidly as Nyx clawed for altitude, every muscle and sinew straining to lift the gigantic beast into the air in open defiance of every natural law to the contrary. His wings shuddered with exertion at every downbeat, displacing the air with deafening blasts that couldn’t be drowned out by the howling of the wind rushing around their bodies.  
        Levi swore and pulled his flight goggles over his eyes as they began to smart and water. Once they were secure, he turned back to see Inertia climbing behind them, dipping partially out of sight behind the swinging black and grey tail in the foreground of his vision. They ascended calmly for a few moments, until the air they breathed began to thin and they were coming up on the underbelly of the clouds drifting across the overcast sky. The sudden dip and twist of the spines was all the warning he had before Nyx swung around in a dizzying hundred eighty degree turn, pivoting tightly and dropping altitude in a freefall straight down. Jaws parted wide and his wyvern _screamed_ , reaching pitches and tones that would make unfamiliar riders flinch and scramble to cover their ears.  
        They were headed directly towards Hanji and Inertia – apparently the other wyvern’s casualness and lack of proper deference, although marginal, had sparked an avenging rage, and Nyx was planning on putting her back into her place right then and there, riderless or not. 

        “Shit, shit, shit, fucking stop, you belligerent-” Levi cursed, pulling hard at the reins to no avail – Nyx was ignoring him and went so far as to jerk them in the opposite direction in open defiance. Inertia was attempting to backpedal, apparently lacking the sense to get out of the way. Levi couldn’t do much more than jerk at the reins some more – how could you argue with a pissed off wyvern countless times your size?  
        They were close enough to see Hanji’s mouth open in a shout, her words lost to the gale as she pulled one forearm hard to one side, leaning back fully in her saddle and taking the entirely of her weight on her chest straps. Inertia moved in response, tipping to one side with the grace of a falling tree and entering a free fall of her own.  
        Nyx twisted to match their trajectory, screaming his dominance again. Levi’s heart was racing as his adrenaline spiked, attempting to focus on breathing properly against the onslaught of the wind. His wyvern was completely out of control, and from his experience, challenges like this usually resulted in brutal attacks that could drive the other into the ground with enough force to cripple – obviously, to the great detriment of any rider, assuming their saddle and harness remained intact long enough for them to meet the ground while they were still mounted.  
        They were too low to be doing dives like this, they hadn’t gained nearly enough altitude beforehand, and they were coming dangerously close to the point where they wouldn’t be able to correct to avoid crashing, their speed rising with every foot they dropped. 

        Far above, the rest of his squad, already airborne, took notice. Two wyverns split from the group and dove, but in a heartbeat, Levi knew that they wouldn’t make it – they would arrive far too late. Inertia was falling faster, but she was running out of altitude rapidly. 

        Nyx screamed with triumph as he closed in. 

        Levi pulled harder and harder on the reins, one part of his mind worrying that his efforts would tear his wyvern’s nose rings clear through the flesh they pierced, the rest envisioning the fate of a rider caught between their wyvern and another wyvern’s attack and encouraging him to pull harder. 

        He screamed Haji’s name as the gap between the two wyverns narrowed, knowing that the action was useless as the syllables tore out of his throat. This was it. He was going to watch as his wyvern slaughtered his wingmate, and there was nothing he could do to avert the situation.  
        “Not again. I’m not watching this, not fucking again! Do you fucking hear me?” Levi pleaded, his words escalating into a shout as he beat on the side of his wyvern’s neck uselessly.  
        Hanji wasn’t watching, focusing on their own wyvern as they pulled on the reins once more- 

        Her wings flared, catching with a report like gunfire, and Inertia spun in the air, using the momentum of her freefall to whip around in a breakneck turn. The broad surface of her head rammed Nyx’s chest, the impact of it great enough to halt the darker wyvern mid-fall, sending Levi flying against his chest straps. The stress of the collision snapped one entirely, and he was jerked violently to the opposite side, feeling one leg slipping out of the bindings in a heart stopping moment before he could pull himself down on the saddle’s neckstraps.  
        Nyx didn’t waste breath on roaring again, immediately lunging forward to snap at Inertia, raking the side of her neck with his teeth and leaving long, jagged gashes that began to weep blood immediately.  
        But the smaller wyvern was stalled and forced to put his attack on hold in order to get properly airborne as Inertia pushed straight through him, shouldering him to one side and unbalancing him.  
        Her respite wouldn’t last long – Nyx was not a slow, nor a clumsy wyvern, and after a blurring turn, he was advancing again, jaws opening wide to deliver punishment and retribution. 

        Levi saw the approaching rush of white and gold scales, but Nyx didn’t, or he was too engrossed in his pursuit to care. He tucked himself even tighter to his saddle, grasping the side straps with every ounce of his strength and praying to a god he didn’t believe in, desperately hoping that his leg bindings would hold.  
        Inertia shot past the newest addition to their chase like an arrow from a bow, giving Nyx only a moment to prepare before the light colored wyvern bore down on him. 

        If Inertia was a giant, this wyvern was a titan, possessing a weight and wingspan that shattered all prior records for monstrosity. It reared in Nyx’s path, flaring broad wings and bellowing a non-negotiable command. The darker wyvern answered as if to argue, darting to one side too late before the greater wyvern struck, hitting with full force.  
        Levi’s leg slid entirely out of the restraining straps, leaving him hanging only by one leg, his grip on the side straps, and a sole chest strap. While the equipment held up during even the wildest of flight maneuvers, it was not designed to hold up under the shock of repeated collisions.  
        Fortunately, Nyx dropped off to one side, ending the chase. Today was not the day to challenge the alpha of the squadron. 

        The larger wyvern snorted, unimpressed. The “all down” signal rose from her back, and at its appearance, those circling above began a wheeling descent. Suddenly obedient, Nyx allowed Levi to guide him towards the landing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nyx is pronounced "N-aye" Or nai. or something. I suck at phonetics.


	2. grounded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, Nyx's coloration is a legitimate thing. In the ball python breeding world, they're known as [pardoxes](http://www.reptilegeeks.com/file/pic/gallery/30139_view.jpg). 
> 
> Cool fact of the day.
> 
> Also, I'm changing this to a general fic. So no pairings. Sorry. I was doing some outlining and the entire Ereri aspect would just jam awkwardly into the side of it. And that's no fun.

      Sunlight streamed through the tinted panes of glass lining the walls of the corridor, bathing the rough stone in soft amber light. Despite the fact that it was almost midsummer, the garrison remained cool, hoarding the chill of winter within its foundations. This far north, the warmest of the seasons was crisp and arid, in large part due to the elevation of the mountain range their small country knew as its homeland.  
      Levi took his time as he navigated the winding hallways, pausing now and again to stomp up puffs of dust from the thick rugs lining the floor or to scrape at the grime building in the crevices of the windowpanes. This was the season to take care of such things after all, before snow blanketed the ground in thick layers and a coat was needed to navigate even while indoors.  


      Erwin had summoned him to his office earlier that morning – generally a bad sign, as the commander would usually just seek him out personally to communicate matters of less import.  
      Levi reached the heavy wooden door and hesitated, bracing his shoulders to stand a bit taller before knocking sharply. Without waiting for a response, he turned the latch and invited himself in.  
      The commander was at his desk, occupied for the moment with his rolls of parchment and bottles of ink. Erwin glanced up briefly before returning to the task at hand.  
      “I’ll be done in a moment.”  
      “Take your time.” Instead of taking the offered seat, he chose to watch the activities of the Yard through the window, crossing his arms and leaning against the frame. Carts bearing their portion of the harvest wheeled back and forth, bringing a trickling supply to bolster the garrison’s winter stores. Individuals meandered through, all seeming to have some specific destination in mind. Most were uniformed, but some were not. Riders on horseback trotted through intermittently, pedestrians clearing before the fall of hooves on the cobblestones. A squadron of recruits snaked through the great arch in marching formation, the loud cries of their cadence only barely audible. Their ranks were beginning to thicken after a dry spell in recruitment – this bunch looked to be about forty strong.  


      Erwin laid the freshly-marked manuscripts flat to dry, getting up to stand by Levi when he realized that he was not being observed. They watched until the tail end of the marching unit slid out of sight. The commander broke the silence.  
      “Nyx is going to be grounded.”  
      “Why?” he rebutted, despite the fact that he was already aware of the answer.  
      Erwin sighed, folding his hands behind his back. “Your wyvern is out of control. I’ve noticed you’ve had a harder time handling him as of late. He’s been fighting your commands more often than following them. And last week’s incident was a clear sign that we can’t continue to indulge his behavior. Levi-”  
      He paused until his subordinate made eye contact. “You realize how serious this is. Hanji could have easily been killed. You could have been killed. Her wyvern is still recovering from the attack – she won’t be able to fly for at least a fortnight, and we needed her on the wing that’s commissioned to Gilandrus. Word is spreading among the public. I have council members calling for your wyvern’s head on a spike.”  
      That caught Levi’s attention. His mouth set in a tense frown. “That’s far too drastic.”  
      “I agree,” Erwin soothed. “I would never be at ease with the idea of culling a bonded wyvern, especially given your record of performance with Nyx. There are better alternatives to such senseless killing.”  
      Levi’s eyes narrowed. “What alternatives?”  
      Erwin shifted, subtly changing his footing. “I’m sure that you’re aware of the fact that the offer to re-bond remains.”  
      Levi began to protest, but he was cut off. “We’ve all known, from the beginning, that your pairing with Nyx was experimental, at best. Feral wyverns haven’t been bonded in over half a century. He showed great prospect initially, but at this point it’s obvious that he’s regressing. We can’t afford to let the situation slide any further downhill. I understand that you’ve bonded,” he conceded gently, “I ride. I know how it feels. I never thought that I’d fly again after losing Rhaea at Mithras.”  
      Levi didn’t respond. Erwin sighed softly, tapping at the windowsill with one finger. “We can’t afford to lose you as a rider, Levi. I doubt there’s another person in our ranks that could have managed Nyx as long as you have. But we all have our limits. He was never meant to take the saddle.”  


      As much as he wanted to argue the point, Levi simply couldn’t. The same facts had been circling his mind like an exhaustive mantra for months, fueling an underlying current of anxiety that only built with every incident and refused command. Though he wouldn’t admit it in that moment, handling Nyx had become arduous and his attack on the other wyvern had shaken him to the core.  
      Yet the feral wyvern had somehow become a part of his identity in a way that made it impossible to envision a future without those mottled grey wings stretching to either side of him. And yet…  


      “I’ll consider it,” he responded, speaking at a volume not much louder than a whisper.  
      Erwin nodded approvingly. “Until then, Nyx will be grounded. It may be difficult to negotiate, but I can try to arrange for him to be released back into the wild instead of being used as breeder stock. But I can’t guarantee that he’ll ever be cleared to fly with a wing again. That decision is above my rank, and frankly,” he paused, attempting to soften the blow. “It’s not in his favor.”  
      “I understand that perfectly well. I would likely reach the same conclusion.”  


      Erwin returned to his desk, rolling the manuscripts out of the way and retrieving separate ones from the shelves behind him.  
      “In the meantime, I’m assigning you to the newest squadron of riding recruits.”  
      “Oh, _hell_ no,” Levi spat indignantly, crossing his arms in front of him.  
      Erwin held up a palm dismissively, hardening his voice. “You’re a ranked officer and this is part of the responsibility. I’ve helped you dodge it for long enough. Mike, Moblit, Nanaba, Petra, they’re tied up with their wings and slated for commissions. Your wyvern is grounded. You can’t expect to take an indefinite vacation until the matter is resolved.”  
      “I wasn’t asking for a vacation,” he protested. “I’m not cut out for that kind of shit. There’s a reason why I’ve turned down the offer of my own wing for so long.”  
      “It’s not a request,” Erwin answered firmly, holding the rolled documents over the desk. Levi took them, albeit not happily, and began to skim over the first few.  


      “Graduation from general training is next week,” the commander elaborated. “The ones who’ve taken interest in the riders are listed. You’ve have to coordinate with the housing officer, the stewards, all of that. You’re responsible for ensuring they have food, berthing, uniforms – all of the basics.”  
      Levi huffed unhappily, rapidly losing interest in the technicalities.  
      “On second thought, just talk to Petra. She’s handled a few groups of recruits in the past, so she should be fairly familiar with what needs to be set up.”  
      “Right.” Without any further ado, Levi turned and left the office, still reading as he walked.  


      Erwin watched the empty door frame for a moment before taking a seat again, allowing himself a small break from the pile of business he had yet to attend to.  
      The announcement had gone over better than he had imagined. While caring for a squadron of recruits was hardly Levi’s favorite duty, it would keep him occupied until some decision could be made regarding his wyvern. With any luck, it might gear him up towards taking on a wing of his own in due time. Though he would deny it, Levi would make an excellent leader and he was wasting potential by hanging back as a supporting rider.  
      If things turned out the way he wanted them to, this otherwise catastrophic setback could be advantageous indeed. 

**Author's Note:**

> IF YOU LIKED THIS SHIT, LEAVE A FUCKING KUDOS OR A COMMENT OR SOMETHING. Because those make me feel happy inside.  
> It will make you feel happy inside too, I promise. if not, I don't accept refunds without a receipt. And no, I cannot look you up through your credit card, fuck that shit. I'm not getting paid to do that.
> 
> More of my writing:  
> [Black Paint and Cherry Wine](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3554132/chapters/7826468), my slice-of-life, modern AU  
> [Throwing coins at somebody works much like a wishing well, except for the fact that you get the entire well instead of what you actually wished for](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4403435), my also modern AU one-shot(?)  
> I also write Free! fanfic, if you're into that. 
> 
> I'mma dump [the link to my tumblr](http://vagabonddiesel.tumblr.com/) here, because I'm sick of writing it at the beginning of each chapter. You should check it out, I embarrass myself and post pictures of shit, you can observe my horrible sense of humor first-hand, suffer through my egalitarian/atheist reposts, look at pictures of semi trucks and pieces of engines and shit, and of course, watch me shitpost about anime and my lazy bearded dragon. AND BEER. It's a good time.


End file.
